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    Home»Space»See the Far Side of the Moon: Incredibly Detailed Pictures From Artemis I Orion Close Lunar Flyby
    Space

    See the Far Side of the Moon: Incredibly Detailed Pictures From Artemis I Orion Close Lunar Flyby

    By SciTechDailyNovember 27, 202247 Comments2 Mins Read
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    The Earth is seen setting from the far side of the Moon just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence on Sunday, November 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft. Credit: NASA

    Orion’s Close Lunar Flyby

    On the sixth day of the Artemis I mission, Orion made a close flyby of the Moon, passing about 81 miles (130 km) above the lunar surface. During the close flyby, Orion’s optical navigation camera captured black-and-white images of craters on the Moon below. Orion uses the optical navigation camera to capture imagery of the Earth and the Moon at different phases and distances, providing an enhanced body of data to certify its effectiveness under different lighting conditions as a way to help orient the spacecraft on future missions with crew.

    The Earth and Moon are tidally locked, which means that the Moon spins on its axis exactly once each time it orbits our planet. Because of this, people on Earth only ever see one side of the Moon. In fact, humans didn’t see the lunar far side until a Soviet spacecraft flew past in 1959. This side we never see is known as the “far side of the Moon.” Sometimes it is called the “dark side of the Moon,” which some people consider a misnomer because it gets just as much sunlight as the near side of the Moon. However, “dark” in this case is referring to unknown, rather than a lack of light.

    Here are the detailed images of the Moon captured by Orion’s optical navigation camera:

    Orion Far Side of Moon 1Orion Far Side of MoonOrion Far Side of Moon 2 Orion Far Side of Moon 3 Orion Far Side of Moon 5 Orion Far Side of Moon 6 Orion Far Side of Moon 7 Orion Far Side of Moon 8 Orion Far Side of Moon 9 Orion Far Side of Moon 10 Orion Far Side of Moon 11 Orion Far Side of Moon 12 Orion Far Side of Moon 13 Orion Far Side of Moon 14 Orion Far Side of Moon 15


    NASA’s live coverage of the Artemis I Close Flyby of the Moon.

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    47 Comments

    1. The 10th Man on November 27, 2022 7:56 am

      I see that the NRO is still downgrading photos from the moon. This time its a slight double image. It’s hard to pin down but definitely interfering with clear viewing of the images. Of course the over exposure too. Always with the over exposure. Not too original but keeps us in the dark.

      Reply
      • Dewey on November 28, 2022 7:36 am

        These images are taken by relatively low resolution navigation cameras out on the tips of the solar panels. I doubt the National Reconaissance Office ever laid eyes on them , let alone ” degraded” them for public consumption. Why would they ?

        Reply
      • Chris on November 28, 2022 7:55 am

        They have already acknowledged the low resolution pictures and have stated that 70% of the images are being stored instead of sent to earth because of enormous amounts of data that has to be sent along with the images. Once Artemis has landed back home they will have hundreds of GB of high res images.

        Reply
    2. marlin Willis on November 27, 2022 9:36 am

      One photo of the dark side shows what appears to be two airplanes sitting in a crater.
      Any explanation from your side

      Reply
      • William Adama on November 27, 2022 11:21 am

        Dark side? If it’s “dark” why can we see such detail on the surface?

        Reply
        • Eric Carter on November 27, 2022 8:37 pm

          Did you read the article at all?

          Reply
        • leebert on November 27, 2022 9:33 pm

          The Illuminatu? LOL.

          Reply
      • jms on November 27, 2022 4:10 pm

        The appearance of two airplanes is merely an illusion intended to throw you off: it’s actually Uatu’s so-called Blue Area.

        Sorry, Uatu. Maybe something other than airplanes the next time?

        Reply
        • leebert on November 27, 2022 9:38 pm

          I thought that was Xenu, hiding out with the Thetans. Ref: Dianetics, pg. 231

          Reply
      • Haru Ki on November 28, 2022 8:12 am

        Probably planes that disappeared from the Bermuda triangle(?).

        Reply
    3. Robert Furwa on November 27, 2022 1:04 pm

      Since it can take such good pictures I would love to see pictures of everything we have left up there before.

      Reply
      • jms on November 27, 2022 4:23 pm

        Don’t need Orion for that; here are some photos of Apollo landing sites from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO):

        https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html
        https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html
        https://www.space.com/14874-apollo-11-landing-site-moon-photo.html
        https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/revisited/index.html

        (That’s not *everything*, of course.)

        Reply
      • J Baggett on November 28, 2022 7:57 am

        The U.S. didn’t land on the dark side previously. So the flag, prints, etc. Would not be visible here. Also, the moon is not, like the size of a boulder, you understand that..

        Reply
    4. Abraham Lincoln on November 27, 2022 5:01 pm

      I agree the pics are distorted to hide “things”. Some see the oddities in the photos, and some don’t. That’s the standard technique to keep disclosure coming, and allow skepticism at the same time. Brilliant if you think about it. Cheers!

      Reply
    5. Someone on November 27, 2022 6:27 pm

      William Adama, the “dark” side of the Moon is only dark from Earth because the Moon is tidally locked with Earth. The Moon gets equal amounts of light on all its sides during its 27.3 Earth-day orbit around us.

      You’re welcome

      Reply
      • leebert on November 27, 2022 9:42 pm

        Dude, there is only a FAR SIDE of the moon in a tidally locked rotation. The far side has phases just like the side we see (the near side).

        Reply
    6. Art chaplin on November 27, 2022 6:32 pm

      Aha! One big ball of mozzarella just like I suspected!

      Reply
    7. D on November 27, 2022 7:21 pm

      You people and your idiotic conspiracy theories, did you miss the part where they said those are from a fly by done 81 miles above the surface of the moon ? And how fast do think Orion is moving up there ? Maybe a few hundred miles an hour ? Why wouldn’t be some ” oddities ” in the pics. And why hasn’t anyone been to the moon since the 70s ? Because there is nothing there . And why would they hide nothing ? You people sound stupid.

      Reply
      • leebert on November 27, 2022 9:36 pm

        They are deep into self delusion. Can’t reason with them.

        Reply
      • bj on December 26, 2022 3:29 am

        They why did they block out certain areas of some of the LRO photos? There’s other photos that have “stuff” in them.

        Reply
    8. Keith Hudson on November 27, 2022 9:05 pm

      Let us comment in your page NSASA. You guys should be banned on YouTube 💯

      Reply
    9. leebert on November 27, 2022 9:32 pm

      OMG. See also: I saw Elvis sitting in a crater next to Aria 51.

      Reply
    10. Jonathan on November 27, 2022 10:32 pm

      Should have invested in a better camera than salaries and benefits

      Reply
      • Adramateus on November 28, 2022 9:07 am

        Have you already sent an High rez picture using radio signal?
        Do you know how Much Time This could take just for one on high rez??

        Its a basic notion in communication transfer to take largely in consideration for being able to send any data.

        Reply
    11. KaeL on November 27, 2022 10:32 pm

      Does the earth have a many craters as the moon? Where did the water come from on earth?

      Reply
      • Haru Ki on November 28, 2022 8:19 am

        Earth had less meteor impacts (so less craters) because the atmosphere stops the smaller ones. The bigger meteor impacts craters get altered over time by weathering, and crushed or subsided by plane tectonic movements.

        Reply
      • bj on December 26, 2022 3:39 am

        A theory is that Earth was formed when two planets collided. The water was either from one of the planets or was created as a result of the collision. What would Earth look like without the oceans? Very uneven and jagged like a planet that was in a collision.

        Reply
        • Steve K on April 3, 2026 9:06 pm

          OP the Moon is an artificial alien space station. The alien buildings are on the dark side. The moon rang like a bell when we landed on it. We need to see live video in detail when landing in 2028. We also need to see high quality video unedited from NASA of the dark side.

          Reply
    12. Larry on November 27, 2022 11:11 pm

      Look at the first pic why is the earth so small earth is bigger than the moon. Earth should be huge in pictures.pic is fake.

      Reply
      • Haru Ki on November 28, 2022 8:21 am

        Yeah. The moon is smaller than my hand which covers the moon easily.
        So those pics are fake (?).

        Reply
      • bj on December 26, 2022 3:25 am

        If a man 6’6″ is 500 ft. away from you and a 10 yr. old kid is 5 ft. away from you who will appear bigger? Figure that out and you have your answer.

        Reply
    13. Martin Meyler on November 28, 2022 1:35 am

      Are these ^^^^ tinfoil wearing conspiracy nuts for real? The US education system leaves a lot to be desired. A shameful display of idiocy.

      Reply
      • NISMADA on February 23, 2025 7:17 pm

        Hey! You better watch what you say about US idiots! Those are MY idiots to make fun of and point out their gross mental incapacities! Don’t you have any of your own to poke fun at? No? Huh…? Well, fine…we can share. Carry on…

        Reply
    14. Davecobra on November 28, 2022 1:52 am

      Y’all conspiracy theorist come up with the wildest s***

      Reply
    15. James on November 28, 2022 6:39 am

      If I have a picture taken of me outside and there is a person who is 7 feet tall standing 100 feet away from me. Why does he appear smaller than me? Is he not really 7 foot tall?

      Reply
    16. Justin on November 28, 2022 8:00 am

      China already landed here last year. U.S is falling behind

      Reply
    17. Haru Ki on November 28, 2022 8:09 am

      Those moon pictures are much worse than those taken years ago from Apollo.
      Moon photos from Apollo 8 were much clearer!

      Reply
      • Adramateus on November 28, 2022 10:15 am

        There is also a difference due to when and how they’ve been took.

        The Apollo 8 mission’s ones were seen after the ship came back. On the opposite, Orion sent those we’re looking at via radio Signals. Thus, there is a limitation in the length of the data possibly tranferable..so the quality is less desirable.

        We just need to wait for the ship arrival and we’ll be able to look at higher rez pictures.

        Reply
    18. Robbie on November 28, 2022 10:07 am

      Oh Mt God, tge moon is flat too

      Reply
    19. Cheesy on November 28, 2022 10:09 am

      I wanna see the flag and the vehicle way left up there.

      Reply
    20. Jeremiah on November 28, 2022 1:03 pm

      Don’t you guys have better cameras nowadays even my phone takes better pictures we’re not in the 50s why can’t you get a good video recording of the whole thing I think you guys are lying

      Reply
    21. Ddddddh1234 on November 28, 2022 2:05 pm

      6th and 8th frame look like a crashed space ship in massive crater

      Reply
    22. Eftspa Lce on November 28, 2022 9:13 pm

      There is no dark side of the moon
      The moon is flat
      Nasa knows this
      Nasa knows alot
      They just ain’t gonna let the cat out of the bag
      TheY tend to shift the truth alot
      TOP SECRET STUFF

      Reply
    23. Martin Galvan on November 29, 2022 8:22 pm

      🤔 still looks like 🧀 with those low resolution cameras

      Reply
    24. Nootreal Fotos on November 30, 2022 12:34 pm

      It’s almost 2023 and NASA still pretending to own the worst camera technology in the world, despite 60 million dollars a day of our tax dollars. Nobody has or ever will go to the moon. It’s not possible. They keep stringing you guys along for this deception. Wake up. It’s not a conspiracy theory either. Just easy to see facts.

      Reply
    25. George Langston on December 8, 2022 2:40 am

      …US landed six two-man crews in the 1960s/EARLY 1970s – nobody HERE’s “falling behind China”…

      Reply
    26. Tim Torn on April 6, 2026 3:11 pm

      Notice all the craters look to be the same depth. Is the moon hollow and is actually a space station? Ancient texts says the moon arrived several thousand years ago. NASA is looking for the space port LOL

      Reply
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